Voting-machine.



No. 730,788. PATENTED JUNE 9, 1903.

A. MOKENZIE.

VOTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 3. 1897.

l I I l l I 1 I IIHHHH I HHH filliflli UNITED STATES i I Patenteddune 9,1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

ANGUS MCKENZIE, OF

STATES VOTING MACHINE COMPANY, OF

CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

.IAMESTOWN, NEW YORK, A

VOTING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 730,788, dated June 9,1903. Application filed August 3, 1897. Serial No. 6%,860. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ANGUS MoKENz1E,a citizen of Canada, residing atJamestown, in the county of Chautauqua and State of New York,

5 have invented certain Improvements in Voting-Machines, of which thefollowing is a specification, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings.

My invention relates to certain improvements in voting-machines, whichimprovements are fully described and illustrated in the followingspecification and the accompanying drawings, the novel features thereofbeing specified in the claims annexed to the r 5 said specification.

In the accompanying drawings, representing my improvements invoting-machines, Figure l is a perspective elevation. Fig. 2 is aperspective view of the body of the machine detached and folded forpurposes of storage and transportation. Fig. 3 is a plan View of the camand locking devices at the upper end of the turnstile-shaft. Fig. i is aside elevation of the same. Fig. 5 is an elevation of the same asseen-from the left hand in Fig.

, 3. Fig. 6 is a section of the upper part of the body, showing themanner of operating the resetting-bar.

In the accompanying drawings, represent- 0 ing avoting-machine embodyingmyimprovements, A is the key-plate; B, the turnstile; C, D, and E, thesides of the booth, and F the partition. The side or end E is providedwith a door, (represented by the dotted lines G in 5 Fig. 1,) which dooris closed and locked during the progress of an election, the votersontering and leaving the booth through the turnstile B. In Fig. 1 theturnstile is shown in full lines in the position it occupies when thereis no voter in the booth. When the voter enters the booth, he swings the.turnstile from the position indicated by the full lines in Fig. 'l tothat shown by the dotted lines, and this motion, through the cam H andconnection I, operates, first, to unlock the voting mechanism when thevoter enters, and, second, to restore the voting mechanism to normalposition ready for the next voter when the voter emerges from the booth.In

order to obtain access to the key-plate, it will be observed that thevoter has topass around the inner end F of the partition F, the relativearrangement of the partition F and side 0 being such as to prevent anoutsider from obtaining a view of the key-plate, while the voter is leftat liberty, without coming out'of the booth, to appear in full viewbetween the partition F and the side 0 to inquire for information, if hedesires it, from the election officials. A roof may be provided for thebooth, if desired, and it may also be furnished with a floor; but I havenot found that these things were required in practice.

The turnstile consists, essentially, of the upright shaft J, arranged toturn in suitable journals at its upper and lower ends and provided withthe arms or wings K K, arranged at substantially right angles to eachother. The wing K'projects across the entrancepassage between partitionF and the side C, so that the voter is compelled to turn the stile inentering the booth, while when he leaves the booth the wing K obstructsthe passage, so that the voter is then compelled to swing the stile backagain into its original position. The lower end of the turnstileshaft Jis supported in a suitable journal in the brace a, which connects thepartition F with the sides 0, and its upperend turns in a correspondingjournal in the brace a. The upper end of the shaft is supported from theupper part of the body L by one or more braces 19.. The Cane H, attachedtothe upper end of the turnstile J,is provided with the groove 0,receiving the pin e, inserted in the bar I, which reciprocateslengthwise when the turnstile is moved and which, through the bell-cranklever D, Fig. 6, raises and lowers the resetting-bar M. The arms orwings of the turnstile are built in any suitable mannor so as tosufficiently obstruct the passage into and out of the machine, aconvenient way of making such arms being as shown in the drawings, ofgas pipe and fittings, which permits one of the wings on the removal ofthe pin or screwfto be turned into a position parallel with the otherwing for purposes of storage or shipment.

The parts forming the booth are made de tachable from the body of themachine and from each other, so that they may be packed in a small spaceor in what is usually known as the knockdown condition. For this purposethe side 0 is attached to the braces a a by the screws or bolts h and tothe partition D by the bolts 2'. In a similar manner the end E isattached to the body by the bolts j and to the partition F by the bolts76. The side D is detachably connected with the end of the body. Thebrace a may be made in one piece with the brace Z), and either or bothmay be attached to the partition F by the clip Z, Fig. 4:, by suitablescrews. The brace b is secured by a screw to the top of the upper part Lof the body of the machine. In this manner provision is made fordetaching and taking down all the parts constituting the booth, so thatthey may be packed compactly when it is required to transport themachine.

In order to insure a full motion of the turnstile in either directionand to prevent its being turned backward until its motion either way iscomplete, I provide the notched segment N, Figs. 3, 4, and 5, and thepawl r. The segment N is attached to the cam H in any convenient way, asby the lugs 0 0, Fig. 3, and swings with the turnstile. The cam H may bea single plate, as shown in Fig. 1, or a double plate, as indicated inFigs. 4and 5, with the cam-groove c in the lower plate.

The pawl r is supported on the brace 31 by a suitable bracket 19 andnormallyhangs downward from its pivotal point (1, Fig. 5, as indicatedby the full lines therein; but when the segment N is swung the pawl rwill occupy the positions indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 5 andwill prevent the reverse movement of the segment and turnstile when ithas begun to swing in either direction until the last end of the segmenthas passed beyond the pawl, when the latter will resume its normalposition. The ends of the segment are beveled for the purpose ofswinging the pawl, and the upper edge of the segment is provided withsuitable notches in which the end of the pawl engages. The end of thebar I is provided with the slot 3, Fig. 3, fitting on the shaft J. Itwill be seen that any other suitable means of operating the resettingbarM from the turnstile may be adopted and that any other suitable devicesmay be employed for preventing the reversal of the motion of theturnstile.

Any suitable voting mechanism may be used in connection with myimprovements such, for instance, as that shown in the now well-knownDavis patent, No. 526,668, of September 25, 1894. In the accompanyingdrawings the key-plate A is represented as provided with a series ofstraight-ticket levers S and a suitable series of selective votingmechanisms arranged to be operated by the keys t, which are drawndownward by the voter to operate the registers. A row of placards c atthe top of the key-plate gives the title of the office for which thecandidates in the vertical line underneath each placard are innomination. The candidates of each party are arranged in horizontalrows, and these rows may be of any requisite number, according to thenumberof parties. The key-plate may also be provided with any suitableirregular balloting devices, one of which is indicated at Q, Fig. l, andwith the quest-ionvoting mechanism u, and, if desired, withaballot-receiver R. It will be of course understood that these variousparts are suitably interlocked in the manner that has now become wellknown.

o is a handle which controls the position of the shutters by which thecount is displayed through suitable openings 0 in the key-plate at theend of the election.

The body of the machine is divided on the horizontal line to, Fig. 1,into the upper and lower parts or sections L L, which are hingedtogether at 50, Figs. 1 and 2, so that the upper section L may be foldeddown on the lower section L, as indicated in Fig. 2, to facilitate thetransportation of the machine, and the lower section may be providedwith wheels or rollers y, so that the body can be easily moved fromplace to place. The lower section is provided with a projectingledge z,and suitable blocks or wedges b are introduced between the ledge and theupper sec tion L when the body is folded up. The lower section L isprovided with the series of boxes, bags, or other suitable receptaclesc, Fig. 2, to receive the votes deposited through the irregular devices,the lower plates of the upper section being provided with thecorresponding series of apertures d,.Fig. 2. When bags are used toreceive the irregular vote, they may be attached to the lower side ofthe upper section. The lower section is provided with a door T, throughwhich access is had to the irregular votes after the election hasclosed. The wheels 3 are attached to axles applied to the bottom of thelower section, and one of these axles may be pivoted and provided withthe handle or tongue, so that the body when folded up can be readilydrawn from place to place. The rear side of the upper section of thebody is provided with suitable folding doors V, through which access maybe had to the mechanism inside the section.

I have found in practice that two men can set up my improvedvoting-machine and prepare it for use in the space of half an hour. Theconstruction and arrangement of the turnstile also facilitates theentrance and egress of the voters from the booth to such an extent thatIhave voted more than seven hundred persons in three hours.

The irregular-balloting device may be of any suitable or preferredconstruction. As shown, it consists of a slide having an opening for thereception of the ballot-holder,

which slide is pushed inward to deposit the IIO holder in the bag orother receptacle. It will be understood that the slide is suitablyinterlocked with the keys t.

The sections L L may be provided with a lock or other suitable device tosecure them together when the machine is set up for use; but in practicethe end wallsD and E, when attached to the ends of the body, secure thesections together. v

Y, Fig. 6, indicates the interlocking rods of the Davis votingmechanism.

1 claim 1. The combination with the lower section L, provided with theledge z, of the upper section L, containing the voting mechanism andhinged to the lower section.

